Novak Djokovic (5th place, Serbia) will challenge to win the 10th Australian Open tennis tournament in his career. He has to overcome the left hamstring injury and the ‘pro-Russian controversy’ of his father, Srdan Djokovic, which came suddenly.
Djokovic defeated Tommy Paul (35th, USA) 3-0 in the men’s singles semifinals of the Australian Open (total prize money 76.5 million Australian dollars, about 67.2 billion won) held at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on the 27th (Korean time) to advance to the final. succeeded in
Djokovic, who was virtually expelled from Australia last year for not vaccinated against Corona 19, advanced to the final stage of the Australian Open in two years.
Djokovic is quite strong, having reached the top nine times in his career at the Australian Open. If he wins this tournament, he will hold the tie record with 22 major championship wins along with Rafael Nadal (2nd place, Spain).
Djokovic will compete with Stephanos Tsitsipas (4th place, Greece) for the championship trophy on the afternoon of the 29th. The two have faced a total of 12 times so far, and Djokovic has the upper hand with 10 wins and 2 losses, including the recent 9 wins. 스포츠토토
Djokovic will have to overcome his fitness and his father’s controversies to win his 10th career title.
Djokovic is experiencing discomfort in his left hamstring (muscle behind the thigh) this tournament. So he puts on a compression bandage and goes out on the court. He makes a long rally during the game, or shows a difficult appearance after performing a somewhat excessive motion. Djokovic is showing perfect performance, ending all five matches until the semifinals with no sets, except for the match where he won 3-1 in the second round against Enzo Cuaco (191st, France). Because of this, he is being suspected of a ‘fake injury’, but regretted saying, “It’s interesting when other players are injured, but they say ‘fake’ when I am injured.”
Djokovic has been in trouble for his recent ‘pro-Russian controversy’ with his father, Srdan. A video was posted on a pro-Russian YouTube channel showing Srdan posing with a man holding a Russian flag with the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin on it. Australian newspaper The Melbourne Age reported that Srdan said “Long live Russia” in Serbian. Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia protested.
Srdan said, “After my son’s game, I was outside the stadium to celebrate the victory with the fans. I did not intend to get involved in controversy. My family went through the horrors of war (Kosovo), and I only hope for peace.” started to evolve
“I wouldn’t have come this far without my family and my team,” Djokovic said after winning the semifinal.
Tsitsipas has only reached the final once in a major tournament. In the 2021 French Open final, he knelt 2-3 to Djokovic after a bloody battle of 4 hours and 11 minutes. Tsitsipas dreams of revenge against Djokovic with his first major win.